CN115803636A

CN115803636A - Specimen transport device and specimen transport carrier

Info

Publication number: CN115803636A
Application number: CN202180042570.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 松家健史; 山口茂辉
Original assignee: Hitachi High Technologies Corp
Current assignee: Hitachi High Tech Corp
Priority date: 2020-07-10
Filing date: 2021-03-05
Publication date: 2023-03-14
Also published as: JPWO2022009470A1; WO2022009470A1; JP7315798B2; EP4180370A1; US20230202779A1

Abstract

The disclosed device is provided with: a specimen carrier (100) having two or more grip sections (101) that support specimen containers (150) having different diameters from different directions; and a conveying surface (201) on which the sample carrier (100) slides, wherein the sample carrier (100) is provided with a direction adjustment unit which adjusts the advancing direction of the sample carrier (100) when the sample carrier slides on the surface of the conveying surface (201), so that the direction of the force in which one gripping part (101) of the two or more gripping parts (101) grips the sample container (150) is opposite to the advancing direction of the sample carrier (100). Thus, a specimen transport apparatus and a specimen transport carrier are provided that can suppress shaking of a specimen more than before without restricting a transport path in electromagnetic transport.

Description

Specimen transport device and specimen transport carrier

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a sample transport device and a sample transport carrier for transporting sample containers in a sample inspection automation system.

Background

In order to prevent wear of a gripping surface of a manipulator when the manipulator holds a bucket on which a sample container is mounted, patent document 1 describes the following: the bucket has a protruding rod, the protruding rod includes an axle, an umbrella part of a flange part protruding to the horizontal direction than the side surface of the axle, and a slide block capable of sliding up and down along the periphery of the side surface of the axle at a position lower than the umbrella part, the plurality of finger parts lift together with the slide block under the state of holding the slide block, and the claw part is hooked on the flange part in the process.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2016-203309

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

In recent years, in a specimen examination for the purpose of diagnosis in the medical field, labor saving and speedup of an examination using an automated apparatus have been advanced.

Therefore, in the sample inspection automation system, the pretreatment apparatus, the automatic analysis apparatus, and the post-treatment apparatus are connected to each other via the sample transport apparatus, and the operation related to the analysis of blood is fully automated.

In such sample transport in an automated system, a sample carrier capable of mounting a sample container containing one sample is used. As an example thereof, the following methods are known: the plurality of electromagnets fixed and arranged below the transport surface generate a magnetic field, and the magnets in the sample carrier attract and repel each other, thereby sliding on the transport surface. By this transport method, not one-dimensional but two-dimensional transport of a specimen is realized.

Here, if the sample shakes, there is a possibility that the analysis result is affected, and therefore it is important to suppress the liquid shaking of the sample. Therefore, it is preferable to convey the sample container so that the sample container itself does not shake. However, since the specimen containers having different diameters are provided on the specimen carrier, it is difficult to control the force of the specimen carrier to be small by the attraction and repulsion of the electromagnet, and thus it is difficult to suppress the shaking of the specimen containers.

Patent document 1 describes correcting the direction of a specimen carrier by acting from the side surface of the specimen carrier in the one-dimensional belt conveyor system. However, in such a technique, if a sample carrier is approached from a side surface in two-dimensional sample transport, various problems occur, such as restriction of a transport path and a long transport time.

The invention provides a sample conveying device and a sample conveying carrier, which do not limit a conveying path in electromagnetic conveying and can inhibit the shaking of a sample compared with the prior art.

Means for solving the problems

The present invention includes a plurality of means for solving the above-described problems, and an example thereof is a specimen transport device including: a carrier having 2 or more grip portions for supporting specimen containers having different diameters from different directions; and a transport surface on which the carrier slides, wherein the carrier has a direction adjustment unit that adjusts a direction of travel of the carrier when the carrier slides on the surface of the transport surface such that a direction in which 1 of the 2 or more grip units grips the specimen container is opposite to the direction of travel of the carrier.

Effects of the invention

According to the present invention, in electromagnetic conveyance, the conveyance path is not limited, and shaking of the specimen can be suppressed compared to the conventional one. Problems, structures, and effects other than those described above will be apparent from the following description of the embodiments.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic plan view showing the entire configuration of a sample inspection automation system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a transport device constituting the sample inspection automation system according to the embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating the structure of the specimen carrier suppression specimen container on the transport path from the bottom surface side.

Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating the inclination of the sample container during conveyance.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the structure of the specimen carrier of the present invention viewed from the side.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the structure of the specimen carrier of the present invention when viewed from the bottom surface side.

Fig. 7 is a view for explaining the operation principle of the present invention when viewed from the bottom surface side of the specimen carrier.

Fig. 8 is a view for explaining the operation principle of the present invention when viewed from the bottom surface side of the specimen carrier.

FIG. 9 is a view of another structure of the specimen carrier of the present invention as viewed from the side surface side and the bottom surface side.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing still another structure of the specimen carrier of the present invention viewed from the side.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing still another structure of the specimen carrier of the present invention viewed from the side.

Detailed Description

An example of the sample transport apparatus and the sample transport carrier according to the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 1 to 11. In the drawings used in the present specification, the same or corresponding components may be denoted by the same or similar reference numerals, and redundant description of these components may be omitted.

First, the overall configuration of the sample inspection automation system will be described with reference to fig. 1 and 2. Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the entire structure of a sample inspection automation system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a transport device constituting the sample inspection automation system according to the embodiment.

The sample inspection automation system 1000 in the present embodiment shown in fig. 1 is a system including an analysis device for automatically analyzing components of a sample such as blood or urine.

The main components of the sample inspection automation system 1000 are a control computer 900 that collectively manages a plurality of transport devices 700 (12 in fig. 1), a plurality of analysis devices 800 (4 in fig. 1), and the sample inspection automation system 1000, each of which carries a sample carrier 100 (see fig. 2) on which a sample container 150 (see fig. 2 and the like) containing a sample such as blood or urine is mounted, or an empty holder.

The analyzer 800 is a unit for performing qualitative and quantitative analysis of components of the sample conveyed by the conveyor 700. The analysis item in this unit is not particularly limited, and a known automatic analyzer that analyzes biochemical items and immune items may be used. When a plurality of the members are provided, they may be of the same or different specifications, and are not particularly limited.

Each transport device 700 is a device that slides on a transport path by the interaction between the magnetic poles 707 (see fig. 2) and the magnetic bodies 105 (see fig. 2) provided on the sample carriers 100, and transports the samples mounted on the sample carriers 100 to a destination. The details thereof will be described in detail later with reference to fig. 2.

The control computer 900 controls the operation of the entire system including the transport apparatus 700 and the analysis apparatus 800, and is configured by a computer having a display device such as a liquid crystal display, an input device, a storage device, a CPU, a memory, and the like. The control computer 900 controls the operation of each device based on various programs recorded in the storage device.

The control processing of the operation executed by the control computer 900 may be integrated into 1 program, may be divided into a plurality of programs, or may be a combination of these programs. In addition, a part or all of the program may be realized by dedicated hardware, or may be modularized.

In addition, although the case where 4 analysis devices 800 are provided is described in fig. 1, the number of analysis devices is not particularly limited, and may be 1 or more. Similarly, the number of the transport devices 700 is not particularly limited, and may be 1 or more.

In addition, various sample preprocessing/post-processing units for executing preprocessing and post-processing on a sample can be provided in the sample inspection automation system 1000. The detailed configuration of the sample pretreatment/post-treatment section is not particularly limited, and a configuration of a known pretreatment apparatus can be adopted.

Next, the structure of the transport apparatus 700 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to fig. 2.

As shown in fig. 2, a plurality of specimen carriers 100 on which specimen containers 150 accommodating specimens are mounted are provided in a transport device 700. A magnetic body 105 is provided on the bottom surface of each of the sample carriers 100.

The magnetic body 105 is made of a permanent magnet such as neodymium or ferrite, but may be made of another magnet or a soft magnetic body, and these may be combined as appropriate.

The sample carrier 100 having the magnetic body 105 moves so as to slide on the transport surface 201. In order to generate the conveying force, a plurality of magnetic poles 707 including a columnar core 705 and a winding 706 wound around the outer periphery of the core 705 are provided below the conveying surface 201. The magnetic pole 707 constitutes each of a plurality of detection points that detect the position of the magnetic body 105. Further, a plurality of conveyance paths are provided above the magnetic poles 707 so as to cover the magnetic poles.

In the transport device 700 of the present embodiment, a plurality of magnetic poles 707 are provided therein to detect the position of the magnetic body 105 and to transport the magnetic body 105, that is, to transport the sample.

A driving unit 708 for applying a predetermined voltage to magnetic pole 707 to cause a predetermined current to flow through winding 706 is connected to magnetic pole 707. The magnetic pole 707 to which a voltage is applied by the driving unit 708 functions as an electromagnet, and attracts the magnetic body 105 of the specimen carrier 100 positioned on the transport surface 201. After the specimen carrier 100 is attracted by the magnetic pole 707, the drive unit 708 stops applying the voltage to the magnetic pole 707, and the drive unit 708 applies the voltage to the magnetic pole 707 adjacent to the magnetic pole 707, in the same manner as described above, thereby attracting the magnetic substance 105 included in the specimen carrier 100 to the adjacent magnetic pole 707.

This step is repeated by all the magnetic poles 707 constituting the transport path, and the sample stored in the sample container 150 held by the sample carrier 100 provided with the magnetic body 105 is transported to the destination.

The computing unit 709 computes the current flowing through each winding 706 by using various information such as position information, speed information, and weight information of the specimen carrier 100, and outputs a command signal to each driving unit 708. The driving unit 708 applies a voltage to the corresponding winding 706 based on the command signal.

The structure of the detector 710 is not particularly limited as long as it can detect the position of the sample container 150. For example, a hall sensor, a length gauge, or the like for detecting the magnetic flux of the magnetic body 105 of the sample container 150 may be configured to be able to directly measure the position of the sample container 150. Further, the position of the magnetic body 105 can be determined by detecting the current flowing through the winding 706 of the magnetic pole 707 and the flow pattern thereof, thereby indirectly determining the position of the sample container 150.

The configuration of the transport device 700 is not limited to the above configuration, and for example, a configuration in which electromagnetic transport is performed on a one-dimensional transport path may be employed.

Next, a characteristic structure of the specimen carrier will be described with reference to fig. 3 to 11. Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating a structure of the specimen carrier restraining specimen container on the transport path from the bottom surface side.

As shown in fig. 2 and 3, in the sample inspection automation system 1000, a sample to be inspected is collected in the sample container 150 and is processed in a held state. The specimen container 150 is inserted into the specimen carrier 100 by an operator through manual work or an automatic insertion unit, transported within the system, and subjected to various processes.

Here, the diameter of the specimen container 150 inserted into the specimen carrier 100 is not fixed. Therefore, the specimen carrier 100 has 2 or more (4 in fig. 3) grips 101 for supporting the specimen containers 150 having different diameters from different directions, and the 4 grips 101 are configured to be closed or opened in accordance with the diameter of the specimen containers 150 and hold the specimen containers 150 at 90 ° intervals. In such a holding method, the holding force for holding the sample is large 21 at the portion where the holding portion 101 and the sample container 150 are in contact with each other, and the holding force is small 22 between the holding portion 101 and the adjacent holding portion 101.

Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating inertia when deceleration occurs in the transported sample carrier 100. As shown in fig. 4, when the specimen carrier 100 decelerates, the inertia 31 acts on the specimen container 150. When the inertia 31 exceeding the holding force of the holding portion 101 acts, the holding portion 101 is pushed open and the sample container 150 is tilted. When the speed change disappears and the inertia 31 disappears, the grip 101 pushed open is closed, and the sample container 150 stands upright. The sample in the sample container 150 is shaken by the operation of the sample container 150.

In order to suppress such shaking of the sample, it is required to align the large gripping force 21 in the direction opposite to the inertia 31 applied to the sample container 150 at the time of deceleration. Therefore, it is required to adjust the traveling direction 10 of the specimen carrier 100 when sliding on the surface of the transport surface 201 so that the direction in which 1 grip 101 of the 2 or more grips 101 grips the specimen container 150 is opposite to the traveling direction of the specimen carrier 100.

Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating a structure in which the specimen carrier is observed from the side surface side, and fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating a structure in which the specimen carrier is observed from the bottom surface side.

As a direction adjustment unit for adjusting the traveling direction of the sample carrier 100, in the present invention, as shown in fig. 5 and 6, a high friction member 102 having a higher friction coefficient than the material constituting the sample carrier 100 is provided on the bottom surface 110 of the sample carrier 100 at a position offset from the central axis 12 of the sample carrier 100 with respect to the transport surface 201. The high friction member 102 is provided at a position opposite to 180 ° from 1 grip 101 out of the 2 or more grip 101.

This allows the center 14 of the frictional force 11 acting on the bottom surface 110 of the sample carrier 100, which is the interaction between the bottom surface 110 of the sample carrier 100 and the transport surface 201, to be located away from the central axis 12 of the sample carrier 100.

Fig. 7 and 8 are views of the principle of operation of alignment based on the direction of frictional force as viewed from the bottom surface side of the carrier.

In such a configuration, as shown in fig. 7, when conveyance is started, a frictional force 11 generated by conveyance acts in a direction 180 ° from the direction of the traveling direction 10 of the specimen carrier 100.

In this case, when a component of the frictional force 11 exists in a direction perpendicular to a straight line formed by the central axis 12 of the specimen carrier 100 and the center 14 of the frictional force 11, the rotational force 13 acts as shown in fig. 7. By this rotational force, the specimen carrier 100 rotates while advancing in the transport direction.

As shown in fig. 8, when the high friction member 102 is positioned on the opposite side of the traveling direction 10 by 180 °, the straight line formed by the center axis 12 and the center 14 of the frictional force is parallel to the direction of the frictional force 11, and the component of the frictional force in the direction of the rotational force 13 disappears. Therefore, the rotational force 13 does not act, and the specimen carrier 100 is conveyed to a predetermined position in a state where the rotation is stopped and the high-friction member 102 side is arranged on the rear side in the traveling direction 10.

In this way, since the specimen carrier 100 can be automatically rotated in accordance with the conveyance, the specimen carrier 100 can be aligned in a fixed direction with respect to the conveyance direction, and the direction in which the large gripping force 21 acts most strongly can be automatically aligned in the direction opposite to the traveling direction 10. This makes the holding force 21 large in the direction parallel to the inertia 31 of the sample container at the time of deceleration, and therefore, the inclination of the sample container 150 at the time of deceleration of the sample carrier 100 can be effectively suppressed.

The embodiment in which 1 high friction member 102 is provided has been described, but is not limited thereto. As an example, it is also possible to use a method of aligning the carrier in any of 3 directions by arranging 3 high-friction members 102 on the bottom surface of the carrier.

As described above, the shaking of the sample container 150 can be suppressed by a simple mechanism.

Next, another structure of the specimen carrier will be described with reference to fig. 9 to 11. Fig. 9 is a view of another structure of the specimen carrier of the present invention viewed from the bottom surface side, and fig. 10 and 11 are views of another structure of the specimen carrier of the present invention viewed from the side surface side.

In the above-described fig. 5 and the like, the high friction member 102 is used to shift the center axis 12 of the specimen carrier 100 from the center 14 of the frictional force 11, but the method of shifting the center 14 of the frictional force 11 is not limited to this.

For example, as shown in fig. 9, the center 14 of the frictional force 11 can be shifted by the shape of the bottom surface 110A of the specimen carrier 100A.

More specifically, the shape is as follows: the bottom surface 110A of the specimen carrier 100A is formed with irregularities, and only the conveying surface contact portion 103A and the outer peripheral portion 109A provided in a region offset from the central axis 12 of the bottom surface 110A are in contact with the conveying surface 201. With such a shape, the conveying surface non-contact portion 104A, which is a concave portion of the bottom surface 110A, does not slide on the conveying surface 201, and therefore no frictional force is generated, and the portion where the frictional force is generated by the sliding on the conveying surface 201 becomes the conveying surface contact portion 103A, which is a convex portion of the outer peripheral portion 109A and the bottom surface 110A, so that the center 14 of the frictional force 11 can be shifted.

The conveyance surface contact portion 103A is provided at a position opposite to 1 grip portion 101 out of the 2 or more grip portions 101 by 180 °. The same applies to the permanent magnet 105B and the cavity 108C described below.

In the above-described embodiments shown in fig. 5 and 9, the advancing direction 10 is adjusted by the frictional force 11 caused by the interaction between the

bottom surfaces

110 and 110A of the

sample carriers

100 and 100A and the transport surface 201, but the advancing direction 10 of the

sample carriers

100B and 100C may be adjusted by another method.

For example, as shown in fig. 10, the following method is used: the permanent magnet 105B, which is caused by the magnetic pole 707 and acts on the electromagnetic force for transport (transport force 106B) of the specimen carrier 100B, is arranged offset from the physical center 111B of the specimen carrier 100B.

In this embodiment, when the transport force 106B generated by the magnetic pole 707 acts on the permanent magnet 105B to start moving, the side on which the permanent magnet 105B is provided starts moving to be the front end side of the specimen carrier 100B. Therefore, the specimen carrier 100B can be aligned in a fixed direction with respect to the transport direction, and the direction in which the gripping force 21 acts most strongly can be aligned in a direction parallel to the advancing direction 10.

Further, as shown in fig. 11, a manner in which the physical center 111C of the specimen carrier 100C and the center of gravity 112C of the specimen carrier 100C may be disposed at different positions can be adopted.

For example, as shown in fig. 11, there are the following ways: the cavity 108C is provided in a position shifted from the physical center 111C in the bottom surface 107C constituting the bottom surface portion of the specimen carrier 100C, and the center of gravity 112C is shifted.

In this embodiment, when the sample carrier 100C starts to move, the relatively light-weight side in which the cavity 108C is formed starts to move so as to be the tip side of the sample carrier 100C. Therefore, the specimen carrier 100C is aligned in a fixed direction with respect to the transport direction, and the direction in which the gripping force 21 acts most strongly can be aligned in a direction parallel to the advancing direction 10.

In addition, instead of the cavity 108C, or in addition thereto, a substance having a higher density than the material constituting the specimen carrier 100C may be provided at a position shifted from the physical center 111C of the specimen carrier 100C.

The embodiments shown in fig. 5 and the like, fig. 9, fig. 10, and fig. 11 can be appropriately combined.

Next, the effects of the present embodiment will be described.

The transport apparatus 700 of the present embodiment includes:

sample carriers

100, 100A,100B,100C having 2 or more grips 101 for supporting sample containers 150 having different diameters from different directions; and a transport surface 201 on which the

sample carriers

100, 100A,100B,100C slide, wherein the

sample carriers

100, 100A,100B,100C have a direction adjustment unit that adjusts the traveling direction 10 of the

sample carriers

100, 100A,100B,100C when the

sample carriers

100, 100A,100B,100C slide on the surface of the transport surface 201, such that the direction of the force in which 1 of the 2 or more grip units 101 grips the sample container 150 is opposite to the traveling direction of the

sample carriers

100, 100A,100B, 100C.

With this configuration, since the shaking of the sample containers 150 when the

sample carriers

100A,100B, and 100C are stopped is reduced, a large mechanism for controlling the directions of the

sample carriers

100, 100A,100B, and 100C and a time for driving the mechanism are not required, and the transport path is not limited, whereby the throughput of the transport process can be improved, and the cost of the system can be reduced.

Further, the direction adjusting unit adjusts the traveling direction 10 of the

sample carriers

100 and 100A by the frictional force 11 between the bottom surfaces 110 of the

sample carriers

100 and 100A and the conveying surface 201, and thus can automatically align the directions of the

sample carriers

100 and 100A in a simple manner.

Further, the direction adjusting unit is configured by a plurality of regions (the high friction member 102 and the bottom surface 110) having different friction coefficients with respect to the transport surface 201 on the bottom surface 110 of the specimen carrier 100, or by a shape in which a part of the bottom surface 110A of the specimen carrier 100A (the transport surface contact unit 103A) is in contact with the transport surface 201, and thus, the center 14 of the frictional force 11 can be shifted to a position away from the central axis 12 of the

specimen carrier

100, 100A by sliding, and the direction of the

specimen carrier

100, 100A can be automatically adjusted.

Further, the direction adjusting unit is configured such that the permanent magnet 105B for applying the electromagnetic force for transport to the specimen carrier 100B is disposed offset from the physical center 111B of the specimen carrier 100B and the physical center 111C and the center of gravity 112C of the specimen carrier 100C are different from each other, and thus the directions of the

specimen carriers

100B and 100C can be automatically aligned easily.

< other >

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and applications can be made. The above-described embodiments are described in detail to explain the present invention easily and understandably, and are not limited to having all the configurations described.

Description of the reference numerals

10 8230j advancing direction

11 \ 8230and friction force (interaction)

12' \ 8230and central shaft

13 8230and rotary force

14 8230a center

21 8230and high holding power

22 \ 8230and less holding force

31 \ 8230and inertia

100 100A,100B,100C 8230; specimen carrier (carrier for specimen transport)

101 \ 8230and holding part

102, 8230a high friction part

103A 8230and a contact part (a part) of the conveying surface

104A 8230and non-contact part of conveying surface

105 \ 8230and magnetic body

105B (8230); permanent magnet (magnetic body)

106B 8230transporting force

107C 8230and bottom

108C (8230); cavity

109A 8230a peripheral part

110 110A 8230a bottom surface

111B,111C 8230and physical center

112C 8230and center of gravity

150 \ 8230and specimen container

201 (8230); conveying surface (contact surface with carrier bottom surface)

700, 8230and a conveying device

705 \ 8230and iron core

706' 8230a winding

707 8230and magnetic pole

708 \ 8230and driving part

709 (8230)

710 8230a detection part

800-8230and analyzer

900 \8230andcomputer for control

1000-8230and an automatic system for inspecting a sample.

Claims

1. A specimen transport apparatus is characterized in that,

the specimen transport device includes:

a carrier having 2 or more grip portions for supporting specimen containers having different diameters from different directions; and

a conveying surface on which the carrier slides,

the carrier has a direction adjustment unit that adjusts a direction of travel of the carrier when the carrier slides on the surface of the transport surface so that a direction of a force in which 1 of the 2 or more grip units grips the sample container is opposite to the direction of travel of the carrier.

2. The sample transport apparatus according to claim 1,

the direction adjusting unit adjusts the traveling direction of the carrier by the interaction between the bottom surface of the carrier and the conveying surface.

3. The specimen transport apparatus according to claim 2,

the direction adjusting part is formed of a plurality of regions having different friction coefficients with respect to the conveying surface on the bottom surface of the carrier.

4. The specimen transport apparatus according to claim 2,

the direction adjusting part is formed in a shape in which a part of the bottom surface of the carrier is in contact with the conveying surface.

5. The specimen transport apparatus according to claim 1,

the direction adjustment unit is configured by disposing a magnetic body that acts an electromagnetic force for conveyance on the carrier so as to be offset with respect to the physical center of the carrier.

6. The specimen transport apparatus according to claim 1,

the direction adjustment unit is configured such that the physical center and the center of gravity of the carrier are different from each other.

7. A carrier for transporting a specimen, which holds a test specimen containing a specimen, characterized in that,

the carrier for transporting a sample comprises:

2 or more holding parts for supporting specimen containers having different diameters from different directions; and

and a direction adjusting unit that adjusts a direction of travel of the sample transport carrier so that a direction in which 1 of the 2 or more grip units grips the sample container is opposite to a direction of travel of the sample transport carrier when the sample transport carrier slides on a surface of a transport surface.